I have Crouching Tiger booked for February -- and I'm scard to death something will happen to screw that up. Sony Pic's billing department is really, really scary. They sent me a bill which was mostly stuff I had already paid. I was in the process of making copies of the cks and all that, and they pulled anotehr movie i had booked with them because i hadn't paid it yet.
I think the price we are paying for the wilting of the bigger chains is that the movie companies are less tolerant of our mistakes and their own mistakes. And their reluctance to strike as many prints hurts the little guy (or gal) before it hurts the bigger kids.